Master the GarageBand interface and be able to comfortably navigate its features

Discover and master six powerful songwriting tools that GarageBand offers you for creative songwriting

Learn to use the tools that GarageBand offers you for high quality music production (a beginner's guide to recording, editing, mixing, and mastering your music!)

Learn to build your own home studio from scratch using high quality, budget friendly equipment and learn to set it all up step by step!

Requirements

Update to the latest version of GarageBand! (*NOTE: GarageBand is only available for Apple/Mac products, there is not a PC/Windows version!)

No previous experience needed!

This course is dedicated to the OS version of GarageBand (laptop/desktop) NOT the iOS version of GarageBand (iPad/iPhone)

Description

Is this course for you?? Check out these reviews from recent students-

"Wow. I just learned more in 15 minutes than I did in an entire semester of a digital music class I took in college." -Jordan Miller

"I rarely leave reviews for anything but I had to leave one for this course! I've always wanted to record my music but thought it was too complicated... This course helped me get past those misconceptions and I am now recording all the time with ease... This instructor is easy to follow and really funny which makes it fun to watch. And the quality of these video lessons are incredible... I would recommend it to anyone looking to grow in recording their own music through GarageBand." -Austin St.Laurent

"Great course on Garageband and thorough introduction to modern music production techniques." -George Theotokis

"Hands down the best introduction to GarageBand out there. Dean takes it from the basics, but fills in enough detail to keep the course engaging and inspiring even if you have a little experience with the program already. He has a really fun teaching style, which makes for an entertaining as well as informative course. Probably the best thing about it is the fact that there are lots of examples of real songs Dean has written and produced in GarageBand. These aren't just great for demoing GarageBand techniques, but they're also pretty inspirational as jump boards for your own songwriting too. Really happy with the course - recommend it wholeheartedly for anyone just starting out, or returning to GarageBand after a long time away!" -Richard West-Soley

Are you a SONGWRITER who is eagar to write, record, and mix your music in GarageBand but you have no idea how to get started?! This course is designed to take you on a step by step journey through the entire lifecycle of your song. We'll learn how to write, record, edit, mix, and master your music with high quality!

In section 1, we'll start by mastering the basics of the GarageBand interface and then discover the powerful songwriting tools that GarageBand offers you for creative, dynamic songwriting.

In section 2, we'll dive into the tools that GarageBand offers for producing- recording, editing, mixing, & mastering- your music with high quality (and have a lesson on how to share & sell your music online for free)!

In Section 3, we'll look at how to build your own home studio from scratch using budget friendly equipment and then we'll learn how to set everything up step by step!

This course finishes with a CHALLENGE to take what you've learned and put it into practice by writing and producing an original song! You will then have the opportunity to share your song with our Udemy student community for encouragement and feedback!

Now, don't worry! If any of these topics intimidate you, we are going to break down each one of them in detail and make them easy to understand and simple to execute in your projects. You do NOT have to have any prior knowledge of GarageBand or music production to master the content in this course!

Who this course is for:

Beginner & intermediate songwriters who want to learn how to write, record, edit, mix, and master their music in GarageBand with high quality

Songwriters and musicians who want to build a high quality home studio on a budget & set it up with ease

Singers/musicians who want to learn to master the GarageBand software and begin to write and record music from home

Singers who don't play an instrument but would like to start arranging music using digital instrumentation in GarageBand

Featured review

Don Kennedy
(
21 courses,
2 reviews
)

a year ago

For me I didn't warm to the instructor immediately (maybe it was the lighting! ;-), but as we went through the lessons together, I found Dean more and more on track. This is exactly what I was looking for for content and level of detail. Thanks Dean. Now it's up to me to get busy.

The majority of songwriters never finish & release any of their music! Why is that? We'll take a look a one big reason in this video! The rest of this course is dedicated to helping you overcome this specific roadblock so that you can become one of the few songwriters who finishes and

Why Most Songwriters Never Finish & Release Their Songs!

02:53

Ready To Quit? :P

02:22

In this video, we start diving into one of GarageBand's most exciting songwriting+production tools- MIDI Instruments! Watch this video to find out what MIDI Instruments are and why they are so powerful for your songwriting process! (... and how they are the building blocks for making pop & electronic music!)

MIDI Instruments Part 1- What Are They & Why Are They So Powerful?!

02:12

MIDI instruments are one of the most powerful tools that GarageBand offers you for writing and filling out yours songs! (You do NOT want to miss this unit!)

MIDI Instruments Part 2- How To Use MIDI Instruments!

04:32

To finish our discussion on MIDI Instruments we'll talk briefly about two practicals:

1. How to download all the latest MIDI Instruments GarageBand currently offers

2. How to hook up your MIDI controller (+A recommendation on which MIDI controller I use!)

Are you a songwriter who doesn't play the drums? Then you will be incredibly excited to discover the Session Drummer feature that GarageBand gives you for creating drum performances with ease!

The Session Drummer Part 1- What It Is & Why It's So Powerful

01:12

Are you a songwriter who doesn't play the drums?! No worries! GarageBand offers you an incredible feature called the Session Drummer, which gives you a library of digital drummers (acoustic & electronic) that write drum performances to fit your song! You can even adjust the Session Drummer's performance to make sure it matches your song!

The Session Drummer Part 2- How To Use The Session Drummer!

06:29

Now that you have a solid drum performance from the Session Drummer, let's look at a few techniques to enhance that performance and make it exactly what you want!

The Session Drummer Part 3- Advanced Techniques

03:20

When you talk about using GarageBand to make music some people ask, "Can you actually make high quality music in GarageBand?". For the answer to that question, check out this video!

What in the world is the Arpeggiator?! Great question! Essentially, the Arpeggiator turns you into a piano player! Check out this video to find out how the Arpeggiator allows you to take very simple piano lines and turn them into complex lead lines... by simply clicking a few buttons!

The Arpeggiator

07:20

Now that we've looked at the different features of the Arpeggiator, let's make things easy by checking out the one click presets that the Arpeggiator offers. Also, see how these easy to use, one click presets can be used for creative writing ideas!

The Arpeggiator- Part 2 One Click Presets!

05:45

An extra lesson on how to make your piano sound GIANT!

How To Make A BIG AMBIENT Piano In GarageBand!

00:05

What if I told you that GarageBand offers you an immensely creative band member who plays every instrument imaginable and this band member allows you to use any of his ideas in your songs for free?! Let me introduce you to Apple Loops!

Are you a guitarist (or bass player) who dreams of having endless amps, cabs, and effects pedals?! Well there's good news for you! GarageBand has something called Guitar Rig that you are going to love! Check out this video to see what Guitar Rig is and how it works!

Guitar Rig

05:53

Listen To A Synth Pop Song Produced ENTIRELY In GarageBand!

00:02

Collaboration is a powerful songwriting tool that helps you maximize your creative efforts by pulling on the strength of others around you. What's that you said?The person you want to write with doesn't have a schedule that matches up with yours and they don't live nearby? Check out one way to collaborate with your writing partners digitally!

If track sharing wasn't awesome enough, check out how to share entire project files digitally! Work on songs together with anyone, anywhere, anytime! Schedules are not longer an issue, location is no longer an issue! You're free to collaborate!

Collaboration- Part 2 Sharing Project Files

01:54

Let's catch our breath and do a quick review of what we learned in the Songwriting section!

The Production Process is where we clean and polish your song! Let's lay out a road map for where we're headed in the Production Process!

Introduction To The Production Process

00:35

3... 2... 1... Recording... WAIT!! Before you hit the red button, let's talk about a few best practices for recording! Recording is the first step in the production process so we want to start things off on the right foot!

Lessons In Recording

05:12

Editing helps us eliminate sounds that we don't want to hear in our recordings. (After all, it would be a shame for little, annoying noises to distract listeners from your great song!) More than deleting unwanted sounds, editing also helps us tighten up our musical performances so that they sound more powerful and professional!

Now that we're familiar with basic editing techniques and how to use the quantize feature, let's get a bit more practice using these tools by editing the rest of our MIDI tracks!

Editing- Part 2

03:15

Panning?Is this a cooking show!? No! Find out how to use Panning to make your mixes sound wider and bigger!

Panning

06:14

What is cake without icing?! In mixing, Track Effects work as the "icing" on the "cake" of your song adding subtle hints of warmth and color. You may not know how to effect your tracks, but that's ok, because as usual, GarageBand makes it easy with one click presets!

Have you ever wanted to use AutoTune on your vocals to get that classic "T-Pain Effect"?! Maybe you've just wanted to use gentle pitch correction to sharpen your vocal performance. Check out this video on using GarageBand's Pitch Correction feature for subtle and dramatic pitch correction!

Pitch Correction (Including Auto Tune!)

06:17

Before you send your song to be mastered you'll want to make sure your mix is tastefully balanced. Check out this video for tips on Volume Balance! (And test your skills with some ear training!)

Volume Balance

05:15

Mastering allows us to raise the volume of our track and add subtle hints of warmth and color. Sounds nice... but how in the world do I do that?! What if I told you it was as easy as ONE click?! Check out this video to see how to master your music in one click! (Well, maybe it will take a few clicks...)

Mastering

07:41

Now that we've completed the Production Process, let's review what we've learned and enjoy the pay off of our hard work by comparing our song before and after the Production Process!

Production Process Review

04:52

Check out this YouTube video where we look into several very usable, very practical keyboard shortcuts!

My Top 5 Keyboard Shortcuts!

00:02

You've taken time to write an amazing song. You've taken more time to polish that song by putting it through the production process. It's just natural that now you would want to share that song with others! Check out this video for 1 great resource for sharing and selling your music online!

Looking to buy some home studio equipment but you have no idea where to start?! I would LOVE to share some equipment with you that I have found to be high quality, user friendly, and easy on the wallet! This video is my recommendations on gear for your home studio!

Gear Suggestions

06:48

Here are 3 options for building your home studio that range from $0 to $500 (and my suggestions on which option might be best for you!)

3 Studio Options

04:39

I bought some studio gear!... It's really nice!... But it's been sitting on my desk for three months because I have no idea how to set it up and use it!This video is a step-by-step guide on how to set up your studio equipment and use it with GarageBand!